Witness Stones Project, Inc.

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Historical Society Celebrates the Humanity of Greenwich’s Enslaved at Ceremony

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Bobby Walker Jr., Chloe Cerniglia and Jack Sheehan.

From the Greenwich Sentinel on May 16, 2024

Four enslaved individuals who resided at Bush-Holley House in the 18th and 19th centuries were honored at a ceremony on April 26th at Greenwich Historical Society in collaboration with the Witness Stones Project, an organization dedicated to restoring the history and humanity of enslaved persons of color who contributed to communities throughout the Northeast.

Students from Sacred Heart Greenwich and Greenwich Academy who were instrumental in researching the lives of the four enslaved as part of their collaboration with the Witness Stones Project, shared what they learned about their lives and their impact on the community. They included Mary Kate McBreen, Claire Ryan and Mackenzie Malouin of Sacred Heart and Chloe Cerniglia of Greenwich Academy.

Witness Stones Founder and Executive Director Dennis Culliton discussed the relevance of the initiative for Greenwich and the other communities in four other states that have collaborated with his organization in honoring their enslaved populations. Teresa Vega, a local historian, genealogist and descendant of African Americans who resided in Greenwich, provided historical background on the lives of the enslaved in the community. Bobbie Walker, Jr., assistant head of school for student and community life at Greenwich Academy, who was instrumental in providing leadership and support to the students, commented on the importance of the program for educational enrichment and involving students in the narrative about the lives of the enslaved.

Following the ceremony, the students placed Witness Stones Memorial markers engraved with the known birth and death dates and primary occupations for each of the four enslaved in the Historical Society’s Witness Stones Memorial Garden adjacent to Bush-Holley House. There are now 14 markers in the garden honoring the 16 persons known to have been enslaved at Bush-Holley.

Witness Stones Memorial Garden. Contributed photo

Historical Society Executive Director and CEO Debra Mecky commented on how the partnership with the Witness Stones Project and students from Sacred Heart and Greenwich Academy has helped the Historical society to enhance its mission. “It is a privilege to once again host this reception in honor of Greenwich’s enslaved individuals whose legacy is largely forgotten, yet who deserve to be honored for their contributions in making Greenwich the desirable community it is today. Our mission for strengthening the community’s connection to the past, to each other and to the future is enhanced by their dedication.”

Background on Witness Stones Collaboration:
The Historical Society first collaborated with The Witness Stone Project in 2021 on this initiative dedicated to teaching school-age children about enslaved persons in their hometowns using primary sources like deeds, wills and letters. Students and teachers from Sacred Heart and Greenwich Academy have worked diligently, with the support of the Historical Society, in researching the daily lives of the enslaved. The ceremony is the culmination of their work.

While the number of enslaved people estimated to live in Connecticut varies widely, research suggests that there were approximately 5,100 enslaved persons in Connecticut in 1774. Numbers for after the Revolutionary War are still being studied. Greenwich Historical Society research estimates there were around 300 enslaved people who resided in Greenwich during the 18th and 19th centuries. Fifteen enslaved individuals who resided at Bush-Holley House in Greenwich from 1790 – 1830 have been identified through inventory and census records.

For more information on the event: https://greenwichhistory.org/witness-stones/

Jack Sheehan, Mary Kate Brennan, Claire Ryan, Mackenzie Malouin. Contributed photo

Greenwich Students Unearth History of 4 More of Town’s Enslaved People for Historical Markers

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Sacred Heart Greenwich students Vivienne Vanderwilt, left, and Ariel Almonacy place a Witness Stone for one of four enslaved persons who resided in Greenwich in an annual ceremony at the Greenwich Historical Society on Friday, April 26, 2024. Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media

By Robert Marchant on April 27, 2024 in the Greenwich Time

GREENWICH — The lives of enslaved laborers who toiled on the fields, stables and kitchens of Greenwich in the 1700s and 1800s has been obscured for centuries, but remnants of their lives are slowly being recovered and marked thanks to the work of local educators, researchers, students and the Greenwich Historical Society.

The team effort is creating markers, called “Witness Stones,” for enslaved men and women, and four more of the stones were placed on the grounds of the Bush-Holley House, the campus of the historical society, on Friday during a brief ceremony attended by students.

Slavery was widely practiced all over Connecticut. It was not fully abolished in the state until 1848, following a gradual emancipation law that freed slaves when they reached the age of 25, later amended to 21. Connecticut permitted slavery long after New York state and Massachusetts had ended the practice.

Sophomore high school students from Greenwich Academy and seventh graders from Sacred Heart Greenwich helped research the lives of the four enslaved men and women featured on the new Witness Stones.

Chloe Cernigilia, a student at Greenwich Academy, said tracing the journey of a young woman who born into slavery in southern Connecticut and later escaped to Canada to live as a free woman awakened a fascination with history.

“I loved this project. It was so interesting, to connect history to one person,” she said.

Cernigilia and other Greenwich Academy students researched the life of Dorcas Scudder, one of of the 16 known enslaved individuals held by the Bush family. The Bush family of early Greenwich came from Holland and originally carried the surname Bosch. They were unrelated to the family of Presidents George and George H.W. Bush of Greenwich.

Dorcas Scudder, born in 1763, ran away to join the British and loyalist forces in the region as a teenager, under a promise of freedom to enslaved men or women who joined their cause. She appears to have died during a time of intense deprivation in the town where she settled in Canada in 1785.

Speaking of Dorcas Scudder, Cernigilia said she was impressed how she “paved her own way to liberation,” and that her story demonstrated “how individuals responded to the dehumanizing environment they were forced to survive.”

The project also brought to light and markers for Nanny, born in 1798 and emancipated in 1819; Lucy, born in 1795 and emancipated in 1816; and Peggy, born in 1780 and whose fate is unknown. The student-researchers noted that very little information was recorded for enslaved men and women, so the historical record was scant, and their surnames are unknown.

Claire Ryan, a student at Sacred Heart, said it struck her how Nanny’s family was broken up in the 1790s. Nanny may never have seen her four siblings again after they were sent out to serve in other households once they reached an age when they were old enough to work independently.

The Witness Stones Project is an organization founded by a Guilford history teacher. It has been commemorating the lives of enslaved people in the Northeast with memorial markers beginning in 2017. A total of 14 stones have been placed so far at Greenwich historical society land.

Teresa Vega, a researcher and historian who is related to a number of African American early inhabitants of Greenwich, encouraged the students to keep developing an interest in the past.

“The more you find, the more questions you ask, and there’s so much in the archives waiting to be discovered,” she said. “You can be rich in terms of history and knowledge. Keep doing what you’re doing.” Link to full article with photos

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